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The door opened and Gunnar strode in with the same pissed off scowl he’d worn since he’d come back to Mayhem. He stalked in silently except for the loud thudding of his heavy feet, took a seat in front of me and scowled harder. “We need to talk.”

“I’m listening.” Gunnar was an ornery son of a bitch on the best of days but now with his estranged mom dead and his baby sister in his care, he was just a dick. My brother, but still a dick.

“There’s too much fucking shit going on around here Cross. Too goddamn much.”

“Yeah, tell me about it Gunnar, because I have no fucking clue,” I spat out. They didn’t know half of what I knew because if they did, my guys would burn this fucking town to the ground to go after these assholes. But we needed a more stealth approach, so I kept some of the bullshit from them.

Gunnar’s shoulders fell. “I know you know, Cross. You’re the best fucking Prez we’ve ever had, and I don’t doubt that shit. Not ever, so don’t fucking think it. But I have to think about Maisie and man, this shit hasn’t died down since I got back.” His eyes seared through me like a laser.

Shit, he was serious. If I was having any thoughts about whether or not my leadership had failed the Reckless Bastards, Gunnar had just confirmed them. “You sayin’ you want out?”

He sighed, and a ball of acid bloomed in my gut. “No, man. I don’t want out. I need a break. Out of fucking Vegas. At least for now. I can barely take care of Maisie and I can’t risk her getting hurt because of this shit with Roadkill and whoever the fuck else is fucking with us.”

That was some fucking relief. “You know I can’t just let you go. We have to vote on it.” I told him.

“I know. And I don’t want to leave the club. I just wanna get out of Mayhem for a while. You know how fucking hard it is to raise a kid?”

No, I never got the chance.

“I can imagine. But not until this current bout of bullshit is over. I need you here, Gun.”

A wide grin spread across his face and I knew I needed to get used to not having Gunnar around. He was as good as gone.

“Sounds good, Prez,” he replied. “And I’m here, a thousand fucking percent. But seriously, what the fuck happened while I was gone?”

That pulled a harsh, bitter laugh out of me. “What didn’t fucking happen? Roadkill kicked up a lot of shit and then Rocky had her crazy gangbanging ex after her, which meant us. You were here for the shit with Vivi, and I’m guessing this current shit show is a combination of Roadkill and something we can’t see yet.”

“Can’t Jag call up his girl to use her magic fingers and help us?”

I shook my head at him. “Sometimes you really are an insensitive prick.”

“What?”

“Dude, she’s working off our time. Don’t be an asshole.”

“So you won’t even consider asking if it means saving the rest of us? I’ll talk to Jag.”

“Your funeral. I wouldn’t suggest it, but I’ll make sure we have someone here to wire your jaw shut.”

“He can fucking try it,” Gunnar said with that crazy-eyed grin that told everyone else just what a crazy bastard he was. “Seriously, we can’t even ask?”

“Ask what, Gunnar? Do you even know where to start looking? Jag is doing his part and I’m doing mine. Focus on Maisie and doing your job.”

“Yes, sir,” he said tersely and stood, anger emanating from him but I wasn’t fazed.

“Don’t be an asshole, Gunnar. You’re not the only one with problems around here so maybe fucking act like it. In case you forgot, we almost lost Jana. Who is also raising kids. Oh, and she also has a bun in the oven.” That changed his demeanor real quick. “And Moon, the owner of that art store who has nothing to do with RB got her shit shot up. So you being a prick doesn’t even faze me.”

“You’re right, man. Shit, man. I’m just…” His words trailed off, but he didn’t need to finish them because I knew exactly what the fuck he refused to say.

Scared for his loved ones. “I know, Gunnar, me too.”

He nodded and dropped back down in the chair with a heavy exhale. “You? What the fuck for, from what the cops said, you toasted ol’ Vigo but good.” He laughed, harder and harder. “Crispy nuggets.”

My lips twitched but I refused to laugh. Vigo had it coming but that didn’t mean I had to like that shit. “That was a happy accident. What happened last night at Stetson wasn’t.”

“Didn’t realize you were back in the game, man.”

I snorted a laugh. “I’m not.” I told him all about Dodds fucking with us and putting Katrina in handcuffs.